Rougemont, NC
There was a time when stock car auto racing was so popular that a touring division known as the Hooters Pro Cup Series thrived at local short tracks across the east coast. However, in recent years, NASCAR and all of racing has taken a hit.
The CARS Tour that invaded Orange County Speedway on August 1st is a little different. The CARS Tour was born from the remains of the now defunct USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, but they now use super late models, and late model stock cars like you would see at a short track on the tour. This allows the drivers more flexibility as to where they can run their racecar on a weekly basis.
Brandon Setzer, son of longtime NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Dennis Setzer, won the super late model race at Orange County Speedway on August 1st. The CARS Tour super late models allow young drivers like Brandon Setzer to drive high horsepower racecars in preparation for future days in NASCAR.
Josh Berry, driver of the SPEEDCO Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, raced at Orange County Speedway the week before the CARS Tour came to town to dial in his machine. He won the late model stock portion of the CARS Tour Race at Orange County.
From JoshBerry.net, “I’m really proud of all our guys for working so hard this weekend. This series is really competitive, so to be able to get two wins in our first two starts is impressive. It really turned into a long race with a lot of cautions, so I just had to keep focus and get good restarts to keep the lead. The outside groove seemed to really work for us, so it was real important to stay out front to have lane control for the restarts. I feel like racing at OCS last weekend really helped me learn the track, and I was able to use it to my advantage in the CARS race.”
In the NASCAR racing we see on TV, those drivers do not get a chance to practice at the track that they’re racing at next week, and that is what makes the CARS Tour different and exciting to fans and competitors.